The Strangers in the Palace (Closed)(Fantasy)

Arquis choked on his response. It took him a good moment before he could sputter, “I- I did not- I- if that is what you desire, then I suppose you could. Whatever you would wish, but- but I am not going to- I would never make you do that. Unless you wanted to. In which case that would be alright.”

To hide his mortified expression, he pretended to flip through the sketchbook for an empty page. He realized after a second that Rin could probably see all the blank pages that he was turning and awkwardly dropped it to his lap. He went for a pencil and scattered them all over the mattress, and in his attempt to collect them, he accidentally dropped the eraser.

Rin began to laugh, setting his letter down and grinning over at Arquis. "I don't really care either way, darling, it's up to you and your artistry." they said, laughing a little bit. The mortification and fumbling just made them laugh harder, grinning again.

Arquis bent to collect the eraser. When he was upright, he gave two quick, firm shakes of his head.

“Absolutely not. It is your body, love. You get to make that call. I will be fine with whatever you choose.”

He’d gotten serious on the subject of their choice, but then he thought of what that choice would mean and got flustered all over again. He ended up dropping the eraser once more. It bounced off his ankle and rolled a couple feet away. He dropped to his knees, fumbled around for it, and popped up with it triumphantly in his grasp.

Rin tipped their head faintly, calming for a moment as Arquis spoke. "Oh. Love, I'm fine with it if that's how you want to draw." they replied, shaking their head for a moment. "I have given you my consent to ask me to remove my clothing so that you can draw me."

Arquis practically flung the eraser this time. It leaped so far out of his grasp that he gave up on finding it and decided to pick out another. He put the new one safely on top of the sketchbook, then looked over at his partner.

“Ah. Does it have to be all of it?” he asked quietly, feeling somewhat ridiculous. Rin was the one with the choice, not him. Rin was the one that would be vulnerable, if they did decide to go through with it. “Or just some? Even though we are not going to, um, do anything, I just- I am not sure.”

Rin laughed again when Arquis flung the eraser, smiling a little bit. "I was planning on covering up the, ah, area between my legs irregardless." they replied, clearing his throat. "But no, it could be as much or as little as you prefer." he gave Arquis a soft smile; they were comfortable enough in their body that they did not mind taking off their clothing for this, especially when Arquis was a partner that they cared about and trusted. It was a whole different story with Arquis than it would have been with Lysander.

Arquis tried his best to pretend like he was cool with what they were saying. It very much was not working. Every visible part of him was colored pink, and he was fidgeting with the tips of his gloves.

“Perhaps just the top, then?” He picked up a pencil and then instantly set it down. Both of his hands flew to the collar of his own shirt. “If it would help at all, I could- um, I could do the same. You would not have to draw me, of course, but it might make it feel less unbalanced. Or simply less awkward. It would not indicate that we have to do anything at all, I promise.”

He reminded himself that he’d already seen Rin shirtless once. This was nothing new. But something about it felt different. He smiled shyly at them and waited for a response.

Rin nodded, reaching up and getting to work unbuttoning his shirt. "You do not have to take yours off if you do not want to." he said softly, finishing unbuttoning it and then setting it aside. "There we are." he said softly, smiling a little bit. "This alright?"

Arquis didn’t answer for at least twenty seconds. His eyes traveled over their chest, taking in all of the exposed angles, highlights, and shadows. They would be a fantastic subject to draw. Every part of him was gorgeous. He swallowed and glanced down at his blank page, hoping that he could do them justice.

He startled when he realized that Rin was waiting for a reply and nodded rapidly. “Yes! Yes. Very alright, yes. Quite good.”

Goodness, he was a wreck. He’d tried to pretend like he hadn’t just been staring in awe at the slope of his neck and the curve of their hip. It obviously wasn’t going to work. He was completely, utterly enamored with them.

“So lovely,” he murmured before he could stop himself.

He smiled, shifting his seat and then picking up a book instead of the note stuff. That way he would be sitting more still, rather than moving around. "Let me know if you need me to move or anything." they said, giving Arquis a smile at the soft, muttered compliment. Then he finally began to read, going quiet.

Arquis began to draw. The first step was recalling most of what his tutors had taught him about sketching people. He worked out a few quick, rough sketches of their pose as a warmup and did one or two fast shading exercises to get used to Honey’s pencils. Gradually, a plan for the piece came together in his mind.

He started out with a new sketch of the pose. They were sitting in such a way that he could capture both sharp and soft angles of his body. The hands were hard to get right, but after a good fifteen minutes he had a decent outline to fill in later. He worked his way up from the torso and arms to their face. The angle that he was sitting at allowed him to rely on basic construction lines rather easily, though his hair proved a bit of a problem. He decided to work on it more after doing some shading on the chest.

Rather than go the typical route and strive for extreme realism, Arquis took some liberties. He wanted the piece to be more authentically artistic than clean and perfect. He was surprised to find after about an hour and a half of working that they weren’t too far off from his typical landscape. Muscle and bone were jagged hills and sharp slopes. Shadows were the dark patches in the ground and flora, while highlights were the bright reflections of sunlight. Curves were hills and valleys.

The result of his efforts was a cozy piece that he was quite proud of. Arquis had drawn Rin in the way that he saw him. They were soft and pleasant; his expression was gentle, their pretty eyes focused on the book. Even in a flat, two-dimensional drawing they had a natural charisma. It was the kind of warmth brought on by domesticity, but it was also due in large part to their personality, which shone through the page. Somehow, Arquis managed to capture everything he had a hard time saying directly to them—how badly he wished to be with him, how much he adored their presence in his life, how much he loved their confidence in their skin—in a single drawing.

They looked beautiful. He looked happy. They looked calm.

“Here you are,” Arquis said. It had taken about two hours, even though it wasn’t a full colored drawing or painted. He passed it to them and dropped onto his pillow, suddenly feeling quite drained.

Rin blinked over at him when Arquis spoke, having gotten wholly absorbed into their book in the two hours it took to draw it. They had shifted every now and again, but never very much, as they did not want to mess up Arquis's artwork. They set the book aside, picking up the drawing and looking at it. They smiled at Arquis, eyes flicking back down to the drawing and moving over it. "It looks wonderful, darling. And I'm not saying that just because it's me." their smile was teasing for just a moment, and then they leaned over to press a kiss to Arquis's cheek. "It looks amazing. You have a lot of skill with art." he was starting to feel just a bit chilled, and he reached out to grab his shirt and slide it back on.

Arquis went positively pink at the praise. A happy, embarrassed laugh burst from his mouth at their joke, and he buried his face in his forearms. Rin was very kind to say such wonderful things about his work. He tried to not to smile too hard, but the grin he was hiding already hurt.

“Thank you,” he squeaked back. When he looked back at them, he was disappointed to find that he’d put his shirt on again. Part of him had been hoping to keep that sight around for just a little longer. The other part had yearned for closer contact. He could imagine planting a kiss over his heart and running his fingers over their stomach. But he’d promised Rin that nothing would happen besides art, and he was determined to stick to that promise.

Rin smiled, not buttoning the shirt back up yet. It was warmer now with the sleeves on, and he settled in beside Arquis. "You're welcome, darling." he replied, wrapping an arm around Arquis's shoulders. "It really is a lovely drawing, love, and I would love to see more. Whether or not they are of me."

Arquis shivered and clung to them. He wasn’t cold, exactly, but he had the sudden sensation of needing to be touched. The arm around his shoulders helped, yet it wasn’t enough to satisfy the urge. Trying to ignore it, he put away all of the supplies, returned to Rin’s embrace, and pulled the blankets over himself. They were like crumbs to the starving. While their warmth helped, all he really wanted was to be held tightly, and they reminded him of what he couldn’t seem to ask for.

“You were a spectacular model,” he replied to their praise. Every time Rin gave him a compliment, he practically glowed. Niceness was hard enough to come by at the Palace, but praise was an almost extinct concept. He’d worked tirelessly for years and years. Nobody had stopped to thank him for all of his sleepless nights, his hours of scheduling, his constant stress. Not that he minded such tasks and struggles. He was just always so happy to receive a compliment.

They kept holding onto him. "Thank you, darling." they replied softly. "But all I did was sit and read with my shirt off for two hours." he smiled at Arquis. "You are the one that did all the work of turning my sitting there into a marvelous drawing." he liked giving Arquis compliments; it cost them nothing, and it made Arquis feel good about himself. It was a win win situation, as far as Rin knew.

“Thank you, my love. Thank you.” Arquis was smiling brightly. The compliments made him feel like he’d downed a whole lot of champagne. He was flushed and giddy, and there was that strange, warm feeling in his stomach.

He rolled over so that he was on top of them like before. Gently, so as not to hurt him, he settled against them. He then realized that their chest was still somewhat bare, and he instantly propped himself on his forearms, unsure of whether Rin would want him near. It did seem as if they weren’t as self-conscious about his upper half as Arquis, but that didn’t mean he would always be comfortable with Arquis touching it.

He looked at them affectionately. “Is it alright to touch you? Not like, um, that, but just…”

Rin's hands came up to gently rest against Arquis's sides, looking up at him with a soft, fond smile. "You may, Arquis." He consented, still giving him a sweet, gentle smile. They gently rubbed their thumbs against Arquis's side, feeling the fabric of his shirt beneath their hands. He liked this. Liked being here with him, liked cuddling with him and laughing with him.

“Alright,” he murmured, lowering himself against him once again. When he felt Rin’s hand on his side, he nearly melted. A breathy laugh escaped him. He hid his face in their neck, letting his lips brush the hollow of his throat as he spoke. “Oh, please keep doing that.”

How he had lived his entire life without this, he was not sure. It was wonderful. He felt drunk without drinking a drop. No, that wasn’t quite right. Drunkenness was loneliness and pain and bright lights and everything moving too fast and swells of horrid, inescapable nausea. It was regret and humiliation; it was vulnerability and risk. This was different.

"Mm." Rin continued with the gentle movements of his thumbs, holding onto Arquis. He shivered very slightly at the breathy laughter against his skin, at the way Arquis's mouth brushed along his throat. "Ah, darling…" He trailed off, unsure what he would even say.

Arquis backed off slightly, worried that he’d upset them. He couldn’t read the tone of his voice, and, well, that faint trembling could have meant anything. People often shivered when they were scared or nervous. Had he made them anxious?

“Is something the matter?” he asked, concern bleeding into the words. If it were another situation, perhaps the question would have been teasing, but there was no hint of flirtatiousness present. He had made a promise not to do anything Rin didn’t want him to. There was no way he was going back on that promise.

He looked up at Arquis, confused for a moment, then his gaz cleared. "Oh! No, nothing's the matter, it just…it feels nice." They admitted. "Nothing's wrong." They were grateful for the check-in, though, grateful to have a partner whose first instinct was to make sure they were okay. It was nice to have that. He reached up to gently bring Arquis in for a kiss.

Arquis’s shoulders relaxed, and he allowed himself to be tugged in for the kiss. Just before his lips pressed into theirs, he paused, retreated just a fraction of an inch, and smiled coyly.

“It feels nice, indeed. Hopefully this will feel even better.”

When he kissed them, he started out gentle. One of his hands skated up his side and combed through their hair, his knuckles lightly brushing his scalp. Slowly, as he deepened the kiss, he moved the hand down to cup the nape of their neck. He traced a line with his fingers down to the collar of their shirt. Then, after a moment, he shifted so that his thumb was gently touching the hollow of their throat. It was mimicking the kiss he’d given him just beforehand. He grinned against them and broke away. Still smiling, he replaced the thumb with his mouth, skimming one of his canines against his skin.

“Still alright?” he breathed when he moved away again.

Rin returned the kiss eagerly, eyes flickering shut and shivering again when Arquis's mouth traveled down to their throat, biting their lower lip for a moment when he felt teeth on his skin. "Shit, Arquis, darling, you seem determined to unravel me." he breathed, taking a deep breath, then another.

Arquis hummed and leaned in again, encouraged by their response. This time, he nipped very gently at that same spot, then put his lips there. He repeated the process once or twice. The biting grew a bit harder, but not anywhere near hard enough to bruise. He wasn’t sure if they’d want that, and he definitely didn’t want to hurt him.

“I am a firm believer that a bit of unraveling now and then,” he paused, pressing an extra long kiss to their collarbone, “can be a rather wonderful thing. Though I would certainly be more proficient at it, my love, if you gave me a bit of guidance.”

Rin's head tipped back a little bit more, giving Arquis plenty of room to work over their throat. A few faint sounds managed to leak from his mouth, and they trembled again for just a moment. "I don't believe you need my guidance, you, ah, seem to be doing quite well on your own." they replied quietly, grip tightening faintly on Arquis's sides.

Arquis groaned softly when he changed their grip. He brought his mouth back to their neck and hovered for a second, then trailed up to his right earlobe, which he lightly tugged with his teeth. He kissed all the way down to their collarbones and stopped right in the middle. Almost curiously, he blew a gentle puff of air over one of the places he’d bitten.

“Quite well, hm?” He moved again and, grinning, nipped at their pulse point. He kissed it sweetly afterwards. “I was hoping for a bit better than just quite well. Perhaps I need more practice.”

He shivered and then squirmed at the puff of air. "Darling, I really don't think you need more practice, you really are destroying me." he breathed, trembling again at all the attention Arquis was giving to his pulse point. "You're…it's…it's a lot."

That made Arquis pause. Carefully, he pulled away, the only remaining touch being his hand under their chin. He tipped his head so that he could see their expression.

“Too much?” he murmured. “Say the word and I will stop, if that is what you need. But if you would like me to proceed, then I will gladly continue.”

He was having quite a bit of fun, but that fun wasn’t worth their discomfort. If they needed a break—or wanted to stop entirely—then he would provide one.

Rin shook their head faintly. "I'm, ah, I'm fine." they replied softly. "I don't mind if you leave marks, either, by the way. It's…well." he didn't know how to express that he did not mind marks on their skin. That Arquis leaving marks behind was something he almost…desired, in some way.